Shoe rack



April 2,1, 1942. Hfs. DAVIS 2,280,381

sHoE RACK n Filed May 28, 1940 #420m A V/s lnvvEhrroR.`

meansofa suitable reinforcing ring I;

l `the `inner tub hooked locking `extremities `I'I.

Patented `Apr. 21,` `1942 k UNTEDSTATES PATEN TiI OFFICE sHoERAoK HaroldG. Davis, Denver, Colo. Application Mayas, 1940, serial No. 337,597.'

` 6 Claims. (ci. zii- 35) l This invention relates to` aportable shoe rack and has forits principal object the provision of a' neat, highly eflicient, collapsible device, which can be conveniently carried in a suitcase or traveling bag; `.which can be quickly and easily lowing description. In the` following detailed `descr invention reference is had to the accompanying drawing whichforms `a part hereof. Like riumerals refer to like parts in all views of the drawing `and throughout the description.

In thedrawing:` i Fig. 1 is a perspective View illustrating proved shoe rack in place on! a door.

Fig. 2 isa face view of the rack illustrating, in solid line the rack in the contracted positionr and,

in broken line, the extended position thereof.

` Fig. `3 is a p Fig. 2. i Fig. 4 is a longitudinal; horizontal section through the rack barinthe contracted position.

Fig. 5 is adetail, perspective View of one` of the rack bar hangers. i i

A fragmentary portion of `a typ illustrated `at I 0 in Fig. l. i

The kimproved shoe rack employsl a` hollow, telescoping rack bar consisting of an inner tube II and an outer tube I2. The tubesare prefer-` ably `formed of sheet metal rolled into"` cylindrical lan Viewof the rack as shownin ical door, is

in projecting tabs I3, by' means of which `they are secured to supporting brackets I`4`. `The inner extremity oi the outer tube I2`is" reinforced by be stored iption of the 1 inch in 1ength.

ets and parallelto theaxisV of the rack bar to the side edges of the door." `The outer edges of the base portions are turned sharply forward at right angles to form anges I9. TheV forward edges of the anges are turned inwardly, parallel to the base portions I8 and are serrated to form a plurality of relative short,'sharp teeth 20.

For the purposeof illustration, it wasv neces- .sary to magnify the size of the teeth. In the actual construction thelteeth do not exceed asf of an inch and are preferably not over 1/8 of an Inj applying the vrack f bar .to the door, the bracketmembers are taken in the two hands and the bar` is extended to exceed the width of the door. The base portions I8 of the brackets are then placed against the face of the door adjacent the side4 edges thereof and the brackets are released. `This allows the spring I6 to pull the two `flanges I9 against the opposite side edges of thedoor to cause the teeth ZIJ to bite into the side edges thereof. i strallation` steps are required.` If the door, however,is of exceedingly hard wood vor if the device isto be` left permanently in place, the flanges I9 may be lightly tapped With theheel of a shoe to drive the teeth 20 securely intothe wood of the door. i

It is `desired to call attention to the advantages of the base portions I8 of the bracket members. rWhen the device was rst constructed, the bracket members extended `inwardly to the teeth portions thereof without the offsetland the results were"`entirely unsatisfactory. In the first place, it was difficult to accurately position lthe device on the door; in the second place, the door bracket onthe hinge side thereofY would strike l shape and terminating'at their outerextremitiesl` `,Theouter tube I2 is continuallyilrged'over e II by meansoi atension `spring I6. f `The two extremities of the tension spring" are extended through perforations in the sup-` porting' brackets I4 and" areY turned to "form The supporting brackets I4 extend forwardly to the `doorandare turned oppositely outwardat `their bottoms to `form base portions "I8`which,

extend at` right `angles to the plane of the brack-l the door casing `and dislodge the entire rack; andinthe third place it would support but very little. weightbefore the 'teeth would be pulled from the wood.` It was found, however, that after base `portions of suicient width were placed` on thebracket members, all ofthe above difficulties were eliminatedand the device would support a weight of pounds at the mid-portion'of the "rack par, Without pulling the Smau 1teeth from the wood.` r

The `above results arebelieved to be clue to a unique `lever action of the base portions. When weight is applied, the upper inner corners of the base portions `tend to pull away from the door andY in so doing attempt to shorten the distance between the bracketmernbers and the flanges I9. This tendency actstopull the teeth inward- Ordinarily, no further in ly into still rmer engagement with the door so Vas to eliminate any tearing-out action.

The device as thus far described makes a very eiiicient shoe rack for use on any door. The

shoes are simply slipped toe downwardly behind the rack bar, as illustrated in Fig. l.

Provision is also made for protecting both the door and the shoes, this is accomplished by forming a telescoping housing 0f relatively stii material such as heavy cardboard. The housing is formed in two sections, each section preferably consisting of a single sheet of material which is cut and folded to form a backboard 2 I, end plates 22, and a top cover 23. Both the end plates and the top covers are hingedly attached to the back boards 2|. The back board of one section slides over the back board of the other and the top cover of one section slides over the top cover of the other to allow the entire housing to expand or contract as desired. The two back boards are it.

held in alignment' with each other by means of U-shaped clips 24 secured near the extremity of each back board and over-lapping the extremity of the adjacent back board. v

The two end plates I22 are notchedy as shown at 25, to receive the rack bar. After the rack bar has been placed in position on a door, the housing structure -is slipped behind the bar and the end plates are turned out with their notches engaging the rack bar andthe entire device is l.

expanded to the full length of the bar, when it will appear as in Fig. l.

The back boards serve to protect the door from damage by the shoes and the top covers 23 serve to conceal and protect the shoes from dust, etc. ff'

When not in use, the entire enclosing housing can beopened out as a flat sheetso that it can be easily placed in the bottom of a suitcase or trunk.

It is desired to can attention to the fact that the bracket members are formed of relatively thin-sheet metal and are channelled as illustrated to provide stiffness and rigidity. The thinness of the metal flanges I9 allows them to t into the space or crack between the door and A its frame and also topass between the door and the door stop so as not to interfere with the ordinary uses of the door.

This thinness is absolutely necessary since these spaces about the door are exceedingly c The top cover of the housing may be brought e' further down if it is desired to more completely conceal the shoes.

While a specic form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is desired to be understood that the same may be x* varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit `of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A shoe rack for attachment to a door comprising: a telescopically expansible rack bar; a bracket member secured to each of the outer eX- tremities of said rack bar; a tension spring within said rack bar constantly urging it toward its contracted position; a base portion on each Y bracket member extending outwardly at right angles thereto and parallel to the axis of said rack bar to lie against the face of the door; a flange portion extending forwardly from the outer edge of each base portion and at right angles thereto to engage the side edges of said door; and imbedding means on the side edges of said flanges to be held imbedded in said door by the action of said spring.

2. A shoe rack for attachment to a door comprising: a telescopically expansible rack bar; a bracket member secured to each of the outer extremities or said rack bar; a tension spring within said rack bar constantly urging it toward its contracted position; a base portion on each bracket member extending outwardly at right angles thereto and parallel to the axis of said rack bar to lie against the face of the door; a flange portion extending forwardly from the outer edge of each base portion and at right angles thereto to engage the side edges of said door; and an inwardly turned toothed edge on each of said flanges, said toothed edges extending parallel to said base portion and positioned so as to be held imbedded in the side edges of said door under the action of said spring.

3. A shoe rack for attachment to a door comprising: a telescopically expansible rack bar; a bracket member secured to each of the outer eX- tremities of said rack bar; a tension spring within said rack bar constantly urging it toward its contracted position; a base portion on each bracket member extending outwardly at right angles thereto and parallel to the axis of said rack bar; a flange portion extending inwardly along the outer edge of each base portion and at right angles thereto to engage the side edges of a door; imbedding means on said anges to be held imbedded in said door by the action of said spring; and a telescoping enclosure held against said door by said rack bar said enclosure being provided with notches receiving the rack bar whereby the enclosure is supported.

4. A shoe rack for attachment to a door comprising: a telescopically expansible rack bar; a bracket member secured to each of the outer extremities of said rack bar; a tension spring withinsaid rack bar constantly urging it toward its contracted position; a base portion on each bracket member extending outwardly at right angles thereto and parallel to the axis of said rack bar; a flange portion extending inwardly along the outer edge of each base portion and at right angles thereto to engage the side edges of a door; imbedding means on said anges to be held imbedded in said door by the action of said spring; and a telescoping enclosure held against said door'by said rack bar, said enclosure having forwardly extending end plates, said end plates being notched to receive said rack bar to hold said enclosure in place on said door.

5. A shoe rack for attachment to a door comprising: a telescopically expansible rack bar; a bracket member secured to each of the outer extremities of said rack bar; a tension spring within said rack bar constantly urging it toward its contracted position; a base portion on: each bracket member extending outwardly at right angles thereto and parallel to the axis of said rack bar; a flange portion extending inwardly along the outer edge of each base portion and at right angles thereto to engage the side edges of a door; imbedding means on said flanges to be held imbedded in said door by the action of said spring;

a telescoping enclosure having forwardly extending end plates, said end plates being notched to receive said rack bar to hold said enclosure in place on said door; anda telescoping, hinged lid on the enclosure to allow shoes be inserted of said doorto points inwardly spaced from the side edges thereof; a base portion extending from the door extremity of each bracket, said base portions extending oppositely outward from each other to the two side edges of said door; a

flange on the outer edge of each base portion extending forwardly therefrom to overlie the opposite side edges of said door;` and inwardly directed door engaging edges on said flanges ex- 10 tending into the opposite side edges of said door.

HAROLD G. DAVIS; 

